Isfet: What Is It, Really?

[SatSekhem]

I've been trying to do research on isfet in the last two days, but I'm finding very little in regards to do. There's a blurb here and there about it, but aside from that... So, I pose the question to you swell people! What exactly is isfet? And if you know of any unexplored sections of the Interwebz that would have something on it, help a girl out?

Thanks!

[PlaceboArtist]

I've been trying to do research on isfet in the last two days, but I'm finding very little in regards to do. There's a blurb here and there about it, but aside from that... So, I pose the question to you swell people! What exactly is isfet? And if you know of any unexplored sections of the Interwebz that would have something on it, help a girl out?

Thanks!

I'm not hugely knowledgeable on the subject but AFAIK isfet is the opposite of ma'at. So where ma'at is justice, order and harmony, isfet is discord and injustice. The Wikipedia article gives one translation as violence, so presumably this is also part of what it represents.

That may not have been a helpful response.

[Helmsman_of_Inepu]

What exactly is isfet?

Ma'at is a complex concept, so if isfet's the opposite of it it will be equally complex.

Here's a thread on the public part of the HoN forum, if you haven't seen it.

I've also seen it compared to the unmaking 'nothing' in The Neverending Story.

[Valentine]

Ma'at is a complex concept, so if isfet's the opposite of it it will be equally complex.

Here's a thread on the public part of the HoN forum, if you haven't seen it.

I've also seen it compared to the unmaking 'nothing' in The Neverending Story.

I managed to successfully explain it to a Christian friend by way of Madeleine L'Engle's "Echthroi" (and, for ma'at, Naming).

[SatSekhem]

Ma'at is a complex concept, so if isfet's the opposite of it it will be equally complex.

Here's a thread on the public part of the HoN forum, if you haven't seen it.

I've also seen it compared to the unmaking 'nothing' in The Neverending Story.

I wonder if I look into Apep, if I'll find more...

[Devo]

I've been trying to do research on isfet in the last two days, but I'm finding very little in regards to do. There's a blurb here and there about it, but aside from that... So, I pose the question to you swell people! What exactly is isfet? And if you know of any unexplored sections of the Interwebz that would have something on it, help a girl out?

Thanks!

You could probably dig around on the old SIG board and find some... somewhat useful information around there. I didn't find any particular threads on it there, but there were a few discussions where isfet came up. So maybe by flipping through those, you could get a general idea of what it all entails.

For my isfet (much like ma'at) is different for each person. Isfet is uncreation, AFAIK. It's undoing, and it's supposed to be the worst kind of undoing (Egyptians apparently really feared not being remembered- so if you are entirely uncreated, that is one of the worst fates ever). Apep is an 'agent' of isfet. However, isfet can manifest anywhere, if given the opportunity.

Beyond that, I can't say much. I've gotten into many debates as to what is within ma'at, and what isn't. And what isn't within ma'at is technically in the realm of isfet. Much like Veggie has said- morality is fluid, and so, I think isfet is fluid too. Which is why it is hard for me to really give a good definition of what it really is.

-Devo

[Juni]

You could probably dig around on the old SIG board and find some... somewhat useful information around there.

I'd swear Kiya wrote a post on isfet back on the old boards, but I don't have the spoons to go digging right now.

[SatSekhem]

I'd swear Kiya wrote a post on isfet back on the old boards, but I don't have the spoons to go digging right now.

I'll go searching for it!

[SunflowerP]

I managed to successfully explain it to a Christian friend by way of Madeleine L'Engle's "Echthroi" (and, for ma'at, Naming).

From what I've picked up from years of reading Kemetics on TC talking about ma'at and isfet, that's an excellent illustration/metaphor.

Sunflower

[Annie Roonie]

And if you know of any unexplored sections of the Interwebz that would have something on it, help a girl out?

Thanks!

I don't know where you've looked. But I often forget to use Google Scholar to search for things and those results often have more meaty excerpts and whole documents to read for free. Though the results would still have to be researched too I learned after finding some papers linked there that were later debunked.

Since I am unfamiliar with the concepts, I simply did a one word search term and came up with 274 results for isfet. Maybe there is something in that stack that would help or be interesting.



Apologies if you've already done it and even more if it was fruitless searching!